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The United States is not prepared for a catastrophic power outage, according to an alarming new report from the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC).

The report, titled Surviving a Catastrophic Power Outage, explains the findings of the council, which is tasked with examining the nation’s “ability to respond to and recover from a catastrophic power outage of a magnitude beyond modern experience, exceeding prior events in severity, scale, duration, and consequence. Simply put, how can the nation best prepare for and recover from a catastrophic power outage, regardless of the cause?”

It begins with a grim statement in the Executive Summary:

After interviews with dozens of senior leaders and experts and an extensive review of studies and statutes, we found that existing national plans, response resources, and coordination strategies would be outmatched by a catastrophic power outage. This profound risk requires a new national focus.

The NIAC defines a catastrophic power outage as:

Events beyond modern experience that exhaust or exceed mutual aid capabilities
Likely to be no-notice or limited-notice events that could be complicated by a cyber-physical attack
Long duration, lasting several weeks to months due to physical infrastructure damage
Affects a broad geographic area, covering multiple states or regions and affecting tens of millions of people
Causes severe cascading impacts that force critical sectors—drinking water and wastewater systems, communications, transportation, healthcare, and financial services—to operate in a degraded state

Actions that all levels of government need to take to prepare are discussed in the report, as summarized in this chart:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Economic Downturn: Credit Cards Aren’t Being Paid, Accounts Are Being Closed

December 6, 2018

Economic Downturn: Credit Cards Aren’t Being Paid, Accounts Are Being Closed

A new report is shining some light on an indicator that the economy is about to take a major downturn. Credit card accounts are not being paid and some accounts are being closed in anticipation for an upcoming recession.

Credit-card delinquencies, application rejections, and involuntary account closures are all on the upswing, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. According to Business Insider, The Fed says these developments reported are “potentially concerning” given the strength of the economy and comparatively low interest rates. Does the Fed not remember that they themselves have been jacking up the interest rates for months now? Sure, they are still relatively low, but that’s little consolation for the person who lives paycheck to paycheck and just saw another rate hike.

The Fed released the results of this report this week. It’s called the “Credit Access Survey” which is a quarterly report on United States borrowers. It brought to the surface a couple of alarming trends that suggest credit-card issuers are getting skittish and paring back risk: Both credit-card rejection rates and involuntary account closures are on the rise.

A separate New York Fed report released last month, the “Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit,” produced a similar finding. The report, which mines Equifax consumer credit reports for data, showed an uptick in the past year and a half in account closures, again primarily from credit cards.

The reason credit card companies may be closing accounts and rejecting borrowing increases is that they may be spooked by the increasing number of people who already aren’t paying off their cards. Credit-card delinquency rates began to climb sharply toward the end of 2016, a trend that hasn’t reversed in 2018, according to Fed data.

… click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Market Analyst: The Stock Market Will Lose 60%, Or $20 Trillion In Next Crash

December 3, 2018

Market Analyst: The Stock Market Will Lose 60%, Or $20 Trillion In Next Crash

Market analyst John Hussman, who is a market bear, has claimed that the stock market will lose about $20 trillion in the next crash. That is equal to 60% of the market value.

Hussman has been warning that stock valuations have been extreme for years, and is long overdue for a return to historical norms, according to Investopedia. “The only time we’ve ever seen a confluence of risk factors anywhere close to those of today was the week of March 24, 2000, which marked the peak of the technology bubble,” he wrote in a recent blog post quoted by Business Insider.

While Hussman’s prediction is certainly severe, a drop of that magnitude is far from unprecedented. In fact, it is not much worse than the last bear market that ran from 2007 to 2009, also known as the Great Recession. Additionally, some other market indices fared even worse than the S&P 500 in these episodes. Most notably, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) lost a whopping 78% of its value during the notorious “dotcom crash.”

The market value of all publicly traded U.S. stocks reached $30 trillion in January, per Barron‘s. Since then, the Russell 3000 has fallen by 1.5%, suggesting that its market value is just slightly lower today. As a result, the $20 trillion plunge predicted by Hussman would represent roughly a 66% decline. Other prominent investors and market watchers have issued bearish forecasts in 2018. –Investopedia

Hussman is blaming the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program for this major problem. “The current back-slapping about the success of extraordinary monetary policy is a lot like declaring victory in a football game at halftime, just before a flock of fire-breathing dragons swoops onto the field and eats the leading team.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Scientists: The Globe’s Food Supply System Is Broken

December 2, 2018

Scientists: The Globe’s Food Supply System Is Broken

The world’s science academics are saying that the global food supply system is completely broken. They say that in order to avoid a “climate catastrophe” the global population should overhaul the farming system and eat less meat.

Billions of people worldwide are either underfed or overweight. The current food system fails to properly nourish all of these people. And that is currently driving the planet towards a climate catastrophe, according to 130 national academies of science and medicine across the world. More than 820 million people went hungry last year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, while a third of all people did not get enough vitamins. At the same time, 600 million people were classed as obese and 2 billion overweight, with serious consequences for their health. On top of this, more than 1 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year, a third of the total produced.

“The global food system is broken,” said Tim Benton, professor of population ecology, at the University of Leeds, who is a member of one of the expert editorial groups which produced the report. He said the cost of the damage to human health and the environment was much greater than the profits made by the farming industry. “Whether you look at it from a human health, environmental or climate perspective, our food system is currently unsustainable and given the challenges that will come from a rising global population that is a really [serious] thing to say,” Benton said.

And while these are all horrible problems, without vast reductions in individual freedom and liberty (such as the liberty to decide what to eat and how much) the problem won’t resolve. Solutions are, of course, more totalitarian intervention to save people from themselves.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Scientists: Weak Ocean Circulation Could Signify Incoming Mini Ice Age

December 1, 2018

Scientists: Weak Ocean Circulation Could Signify Incoming Mini Ice Age

A weak circulation of ocean waters in the North Atlantic could signify that a mini ice age is just around the corner. Scientists have discovered the weakening currents look similar to those that happened right before the Little Ice Age, a cold spell observed between about 1600 and 1850 AD.

During the Little Ice Age, the Baltic Sea, along with many of the lakes and rivers in Europe froze over. And new and recent studies are showing that the currents in the North Atlantic ocean are at their lowest in 1,500 years. Scientists are about to blame a mini ice age on ~~global warming~~ climate change.

Researchers studied the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the branch of the North Atlantic circulation that brings warm surface water toward the Arctic and cold deep water toward the equator.

The research, co-led by Dr. Christelle Not and Dr. Benoit Thibodeau from the Department of Earth Sciences and the Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong, is interpreted to be a direct consequence of global warming and associated melt of the Greenland Ice-Sheet.

Slower circulation in the North Atlantic can yield profound change on both the North American and European climate but also on the African and Asian summer monsoon rainfall. –The Daily Mail

“The discovery of this new record of AMOC will enhance our understanding of its drivers and ultimately help us better comprehend potential near-future change under global warming,” said Dr. Thibodeau. “While we could ground-truth our temperature reconstruction for the 20th century against instrumental measurement it is not possible to do so for the Little Ice Age period, added Not. “Therefore, we need to conduct more analysis to consolidate this hypothesis.”

This weakening in the current is still vigorously debated because of the scarcity of long-term record of the AMOC.

Food Crisis In The Making: Farm Bankruptcies Reach Horrifying Levels

November 28, 2018

Food Crisis In The Making: Farm Bankruptcies Reach Horrifying Levels

We are amidst a food crisis. Farms in the United States Midwest are filing for chapter 12 bankruptcy at an alarming rate. And many are saying president Donald Trump’s trade war is taking the most blame.

We hate to say we told you so, but we told you so. The trade war was a bad idea and everyday average Americans are footing the bill for this asinine policy of tariffs. Now, the food supply could be in jeopardy because of political posturing and that will not bode well for already cash-strapped American families.

A total of 84 farms in the upper Midwest filed for bankruptcy between July 2017 and June 2018, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. That’s more than double the number of Chapter 12 filings during the same period in 2013 and 2014 in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, reported Vox.

Farms that produce corn, soybeans, milk, and beef were all suffering due to low global demand and low prices before the trade war, according to economists, but president Trump’s trade war is making the problem even worse by exacerbating the weaknesses in the American economy. China has retaliated against the tariffs by slapping billions of dollars worth of tariffs on United States agriculture exports in response to Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products. Other countries, including Canada, have also added duties to US agriculture products in response to Trump’s tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum.

The worst part is perhaps the solution the government has proposed to the very real problem they have created. Things have gotten so bad that the Trump administration launched a $12 billion aid package for US farmers coping with retaliatory tariffs that foreign countries have imposed on their products.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Government Agency Warning: Space Storms Could Cause Mass BLACKOUTS

November 21, 2018

Government Agency Warning: Space Storms Could Cause Mass BLACKOUTS

The Met Office has told United Kingdom ministers that space storms could cause massive blackouts and destroy computers. According to the government agency’s study, a space storm could bring down the internet and all communications.

According to The Sunday Times, a new report is claiming that huge solar flares can generate such intense magnetic fields over Earth which in a flash could burn out delicate electronics and even set them on fire. The report, co-authored with scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and Cambridge University said the UK should construct an early warning system because of their risk.

Great Britain is at a major risk of being crippled by huge electrical disturbances caused by solar storms in space unless a satellite network is built that can detect them coming. (And if you guessed the taxpayers are going to foot the bill, you’d be correct.)

“We find that for a one-in-100-year event, with no space weather forecasting capability, the gross domestic product loss to the United Kingdom could be as high as £15.9bn,” The Met Office study said. “With existing satellites nearing the end of their life, forecasting capability will decrease in coming years, so if no further investment takes place, critical infrastructure will become more vulnerable to space weather.”

It’s not like solar storms of this magnitude have never occurred either. According to Fox News, In 1859 a giant solar flare doubled the sun’s brightness for a few minutes, followed by a surge in magnetism that caused powerful electrical currents in telegraph wires across Europe igniting widespread fires. Another such solar event in 1989 struck Quebec in Canada and burned out power cables led to a blackout. Researchers fear another such event would burn out high-voltage cables and substations across the United Kingdom.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Bank of America: Selling Will Continue, “Big Low” For Stocks Is Yet To Come

November 20, 2018

Bank of America: Selling Will Continue, “Big Low” For Stocks Is Yet To Come

Many economists and financial analysts have said that the economy isn’t doing as well as the talking heads on TV are proclaiming. And now, even the Bank of America says it’s time to prepare for an even lower stock market, as that hasn’t come yet.

The recent stock market slide may look bad, but it wasn’t bad enough to indicate that the damage has been completely done, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. That means it will only get worse as we have yet to hit “the big low.”

Even after a day when the Dow industrials lost 602 points and as the Nasdaq tech barometer remains in correction territory, indications of a bottom remain elusive, the bank said in its latest survey of professional investors. “We [Bank of America Merril Lynch] remain bearish, as investor positioning does not yet signal ‘The Big Low’ in asset markets,” Michael Hartnett, BofAML’s chief investment strategist, said in a statement.

The sharp decline that began in mid-October continues to chip away at the stock market and it’s causing some to put out warnings that we should be prepared for a crash. In such cases, Wall Street strategists look for signs that sellers are exhausted and the market has reached sufficiently low levels as to indicate a bottom. And the concerns are global.

According to NBC News, a net 44 percent of respondents see global growth decelerating over the next year, representing the worst outlook since November 2008. As part of that, a net 54 percent see China slowing down, which is the highest level of pessimism in two years. Global earnings growth expectations are at their lowest levels since June 2012.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘Mini Ice Age’ Looms As NASA Scientist Warns Lack Of Sunspots Could Bring Record Cold

November 16, 2018

‘Mini Ice Age’ Looms As NASA Scientist Warns Lack Of Sunspots Could Bring Record Cold

“The sun is entering one of the deepest Solar Minima of the Space Age,” wrote Dr. Tony Phillips just six weeks ago, on September 27, 2018. The lack of sunspots on our sun could bring about record cold temperatures, and perhaps even a mini ice age.

Our sun was not expected to head into a solar minimum until around 2020, but it appears to be heading in that direction a little early which could prove to be bad news for warm weather lovers.

But a prolonged solar minimum could mean a “mini ice age.” The last time there was a prolonged solar minimum, it did, in fact, lead to a mini ice-age which was scientifically known as the Maunder minimum

SHTFplan.com’s Mac Slavo writes that sunspots have been absent for most of 2018 and Earth’s upper atmosphere is responding, says Phillips, the editor of spaceweather.com.

“The bad news,” according to Phillips, is:

“It also delays the natural decay of space junk, resulting in a more cluttered environment around Earth.”

“It could happen in a matter of months,” says Martin Mlynczak of NASA’s Langley Research Center on the cold snap that may be coming.

“If current trends continue, it could soon set a Space Age record for cold,” says Mlynczak. “We’re not there quite yet,” he said. However, “months” is not all that far away.

Data from NASA’s TIMED (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) satellite shows that the thermosphere (the uppermost layer of air around our planet) is cooling and shrinking, literally decreasing the radius of the atmosphere. This reduction of solar activity could result in a global cooling phase.

“The thermosphere always cools off during Solar Minimum. It’s one of the most important ways the solar cycle affects our planet,” said Mlynczak, according to The New American.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Inflation Surges In October; Media Blames Gas Prices

November 15, 2018

Inflation Surges In October; Media Blames Gas Prices

A key measurement of inflation, The Consumer Price Index, rose 2.5% in October from a year earlier. The inflation was linked to rising gas prices by the media, but there’s more to it than just the cost of fuel. Rising inflation is actually also likely tied to the deficit, rising interest rates, and the national debt.

According to a report by Market Watch, Americans paid more in October for gas, rent and used vehicles, triggering the biggest increase in consumer inflation in nine months. There was an increase in the cost of living over the past 12 months as well. That jumped to 2.5% from 2.3%. The rate of inflation is still below a six-year high of 2.9% set three months ago, however.

Even though the price of gasoline played a role on the rising inflation, the cost of rent, used cars and trucks, medical care, home furnishings, and car insurance also increased and all of these are major household expenses. The worst news, perhaps, is that after adjusting for inflation, hourly wages slipped 0.1% in October. Wages are up a mild 0.7% in the past year, according to CNBC.

This rise in inflation will likely keep the Federal Reserve on their current path of increasing interest rates as well. The United States’ central bank left interest rates unchanged last Thursday, but it is still expected to increase borrowing costs in December for a fourth time this year. In its statement after last week’s policy meeting, the Fed noted that annual inflation measures “remain near 2 percent.”

Even though most prices rose, prices for new motor vehicles dropped 0.2 percent last month and communications costs fell too. Prices for recreation and personal care products also decreased slightly. However, the minuscule decrease in vehicle prices won’t last long as the trade war with China is still in effect.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

CDC Director: Congo’s Ebola Outbreak May Not Be Containable

November 9, 2018

CDC Director: Congo’s Ebola Outbreak May Not Be Containable

Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that people need to be prepared for the worst. Redfield said the Democratic Republic of Congo’s newest Ebola outbreak may not be containable.

Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, said that if the Ebola outbreak becomes endemic in the Congo’s North Kivu province, it shows “we’ve lost the ability to trace contacts, stop transmission chains and contain the outbreak.” In this situation, Ebola could spread, which could negatively impact both trade and travel, according to a report by Becker’s Hospital Review.

“I do think this is one of the challenges we’ll have to see, whether we’re able to contain, control and end the current outbreak with the current security situation, or do we move into the idea that this becomes more of an endemic Ebola outbreak in this region, which we’ve never really confronted,” Dr. Redfield told The Washington Post.

According to The Washington Post, if international Ebola containment efforts fail in the Congo, it would mark the first time the virus was not stopped since 1976 when Ebola was first identified. The current Ebola outbreak is going on its fourth month, totaling 300 cases and 186 deaths as of November 4th.

The problems with containment of this particular Ebola outbreak stem from the fact that the disease is spreading in an active war zone with several armed groups attacking health officials, government aids and civilians. Some civilians with Ebola have refused treatment, and health care workers are still being infected. About 60 to 80 percent of new cases do not show an epidemiological link to prior cases.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Superbugs Pose A Very Real Threat To Humanity

November 8, 2018

Superbugs Pose A Very Real Threat To Humanity

Superbugs, those pesky bacteria that have evolved to become resistant to antibiotics, are on the rise and pose a very real threat to humanity. Antimicrobial resistance is a large and growing problem, with the potential for enormous health and economic consequences for the United States and the rest of the world.

According to CNBC, the media outlet which reported on a new OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) report, released Wednesday, superbug infections could cost the lives of about 2.4 million people in North America, Europe, and Australia over the next 30 years unless more is done to stem antibiotic resistance, which is already high across the globe.

Resistance is also projected to grow even more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries. In Brazil, Indonesia, and Russia, for example, between 40 percent and 60 percent of infections are already resistant, compared to an average of 17 percent in OECD countries. In these countries, the growth of antimicrobial resistance rates is forecast to be 4 to 7 times higher than in OECD countries between now and 2050.

About 29,500 persons die each year on average in the United States from infections related to eight drug-resistant bacteria. By 2050, that number is expected to rise sharply. It is estimated that antimicrobial resistance will kill about 1 million people in the United States, in just over 30 years.

The economic toll of this superbug crisis is huge: In the United States alone the health-care costs dealing with antimicrobial resistance could reach $65 billion by 2050, according to the OECD report. That is more than the flu, HIV, and tuberculosis. If projections are correct, resistance to backup antibiotics will be 70 percent higher in 2030 compared to 2005 in OECD countries. In the same period, resistance to third-line treatments will double across EU countries. –CNBC

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

San Andreas Fault Line: An Unstoppable Geyser Of Mud

November 6, 2018

San Andreas Fault Line: An Unstoppable Geyser Of Mud

An unstoppable geyser of mud is continuously pouring from the San Andreas fault line and slowly creeping across California. The troublesome mud in California’s Imperial County has caused local authorities to declare it an emergency earlier this year.

It’s called the Niland Geyser, according to Science Alert, and it’s exactly that, a geyser of bubbling mud. But there’s a strange twist – this menacing puddle has been slowly creeping across the ground, to the point where it’s now threatening railroad tracks and a state highway. The Niland Geyser had first appeared in California in 1953 but it sat around without incident for decades. Then, around 11 years ago, things began to change. The geyser started moving across the dry ground at a glacial pace.

But now, suddenly, things are starting to get serious where the mud geyser is concerned. In the last six months, the geyser’s pace has picked up considerably. In just a few months, the Niland Geyser’s mud has traveled 18.3 meters (60 feet). It traveled another 18 meters in a single day – bringing it ever closer to Union Pacific’s railway tracks, State Route 111, a petroleum pipeline, and some fiber-optic telecommunications lines.

The mud has so far traveled roughly 73 meters (240 feet) from where it all began a decade ago. The Los Angeles Times called the mysterious mud geyser a “slow-moving disaster.” However, U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Ken Hudnut, who visited the moving spring in July, has said there’s no evidence that this is a sign that the “Big One” is approaching. “It’s a slow-moving disaster,” said Alfredo Estrada, Imperial County’s fire chief, and emergency services coordinator. But not because it could cause a massive quake.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Next Generation Of Warfare: Genetically Engineered VIRUSES

November 3, 2018

The Next Generation Of Warfare: Genetically Engineered VIRUSES

Genetically engineered viruses could very well become the next generation of warfare. Deadly viruses modified in labs could be released eliminating entire communities of people as they infect making them a valuable asset to militaries worldwide.

As dystopian as that sounds, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is already working on a project called Insect Allies which will use insects to infect crops with genetically modified viruses that edit the crops’ genetic profile to make them more resilient against disease, as well as natural and manufactured threats to the food supply.

Joe Joseph of The Daily Sheeple said a quick Google search would give you enough information to let you know how horrific this kind of technology can be. “…and you’ll find it fascinating just at how unbelievable a weapon this could be, how unintentionally mistakes can be made that can cause irreversible damage…irreparable damage…to the human race. And I mean, FAST!” Joseph said. “A gene drive…if let’s just say there’s a mistake, you could feasibly wipe out the human race in a very very short period of time. It’s an unbelievable tool at the disposal of madmen.” –SHTFPlan

DARPA attempted to squash rising fears about their Insect Allies project and issue reassurances after German and French scientists voiced questions and concerns about the program’s efficacy earlier this month. Those scientists also suggested that it could be “widely perceived as an effort to develop biological agents for hostile purposes and their means of delivery, which—if true—would constitute a breach of the Biological Weapons Convention.”

If the know-how and means exist to transmit genetic viruses that supposedly create beneficial crop mutations, the opposite will also be possible. DARPA will be able to use insects to deliver gene editing viruses that destroy crops, ruin harvests and adversely affect the wider ecosystem, RT accurately pointed out.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The ‘Godfather’ Of Market Analysis: ‘Damage Done To The Stock Market Is Much Worse’

October 31, 2018

The ‘Godfather’ Of Market Analysis: ‘Damage Done To The Stock Market Is Much Worse’

The so-called “Godfather” of market chart analysis said that the damage already done to the stock market is much worse than most people are talking about. Ralph Acampora, a prominent market technician, says the stock market is in bad shape and it’s worse than many Wall Street investors appreciate.

“From a technical perspective, the damage that has been done technically to the stock market is much, much worse than people are talking about,” he told MarketWatch in a phone interview on Tuesday. Acampora also said that the technical damage that has resulted in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index erasing all of their gains for 2018, and the Nasdaq Composite Index falling into correction territory (which is usually characterized as a decline of at least 10% from a recent peak) will take months to repair.

“I’ve been a bull for a long, long time and like everyone, I was waiting for a correction but this is something different,” said Acampora. “All the leadership is getting crushed,” he said. He added that he feels that the entire market will go into bear territory soon.

“Honestly, I don’t see the low being put in yet and I think we’re going to go into a bear market,” he said according to MarketWatch. He speculates that the market may not be healed until around the first quarter of 2019. Acampora said that the current dynamic in the market was eerily similar to the stock-market crash of 1987 when the Dow plunged a historic 22.6% in a single day on October 19 of that year.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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